


In the Dark

by Smoltinypumpkinchild



Series: Holiday season [1]
Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: Multi, Very hasty halloween thing, but like hopefully tomorrow, haha - Freeform, i know its not halloween anymore, let me have this, theres gonna be like a prequel !!, which i would write rn ?? but i just dont have the energy or inspiration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-28 06:46:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12600660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smoltinypumpkinchild/pseuds/Smoltinypumpkinchild
Summary: idk man sonnys scared of the dark youve all heard this before im not creative





	In the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> guys im so tired heck  
> there will be a prequel  
> promsie

_Halloween, 2009_

A blackout.

Minutes after it hits, Usnavi is fumbling for his phone, flashing Benny a meaningful look and already backing up the street. Under his stupid zombie mask, he can see that his friend’s face is serious.

“Nina’s with the others just around the corner. I’ll find them- you, you…” He doesn’t quite finish the sentence, but Usnavi nods in understanding.

“He’s at the bodega, still doing decorations and stuff.” Benny nods too.

“Look, if-” he grimaces awkwardly, “If he wants to just go home, he- Just- we’re here, okay? Whatever he needs.”

“Thank you.”

Usnavi turns and starts to half-jog in the direction of the store, listening intently as his phone dials. His cousin picks up almost immediately, and his voice is strained.

“I’m okay.” He’s lying.

“I’m on my way.” Usnavi says, clear and firm. “Maybe ten minutes. You’re going to be alright. The others are all fine, they’re going to stay where they are- at the Rosarios’.” He can hear Sonny breathing heavy on the end of the line.

“Okay.” He swallows. “I love you.” Usnavi feels his chest tighten slightly. Sonny doesn’t tell him that very often, not outright, and that means he’s scared. He replies quickly, knowing Sonny mustn’t doubt him.

“I love you too. I’m just turning the corner towards the dispatch, alright? Do you want me to stay on the phone until I get there?”

“No, I’ll be alright. You’re close?”

“Really close. I’ll call when I’m outside the door- You can lock it until then, alright?”

“Okay.”

“And call if you need to, alright?”

“Alright. See you soon. Love you.”

“I love you, Sonny.”

Sonny hangs up, and Usnavi’s jog gets faster. He can hear the shouting that’s been growing along with the dusk getting louder; people have been drinking since noon, but he hasn’t run into too many of them. Dimly, he thinks that it’s ironic, in a way- the one night people are looking to get scared, a night made for figures lurking in the dark and nightmares and horror- and they’ve lost all their power. And Sonny, who’s been so hyped up for a night of fun and ridiculous scares, is genuinely frightened and alone in the dark. They’ve only had one power outage since the Blackout, but he feels slightly sick as he remembers finding Sonny curled in a corner of his bedroom with a row of candles, stiff as a board, how he hadn’t slept a wink that night, how Sonny had talked, or _listened_ , to Graffiti Pete on the phone spouting any nonsense that came into his head just to keep him distracted for the time it took Pete to get there himself.

He should call Pete. Should he? Sonny' probably already called him. He gritted his teeth. Pete's a little way out of the neighbourhood doing a Halloween commission for some party- a gruesome mural on a make-shift haunted house’s wall, but he promised to be back in time for dark so that he could join in with the fun. Would the blackout reach him? Surely Sonny would've called him. He’d been there with Sonny the last two times this happened, and Sonny seems to find comfort in him when he was scared. He should call, he should make sure-

Before he can make a decision, the bodega comes into sight. It’s saddening to look at- the lights Sonny had strung up outside aren’t lit, of course, and the fake spiders’ webs that he’d hooked into the windows flutter limply, blending in with the abandoned plastic bags that litter the street. It’s not getting properly dark yet, it’s still early. Everyone had been going to pitch up at the store- Sonny's been planning it for weeks, probably more- a party for all of them, but… God, it just isn’t safe; the store was targeted before, it could be again. He doesn’t want any of his friends to end up in a fight with some drunk Halloween idiot- or someone much more dangerous. Quickly, he approaches the door and knocks, loudly, calling- “Sonny? It’s Usnavi, I’m here!”

Sonny opens the door quickly and looks up at him with a tight, nervous expression. He doesn’t look good, but at least he’s not immobile in the corner of the bodega; that’s a good sign.

“Hey, Usnavi.” The cheap skeleton face-paint makes his cheeks look drawn- that’s the idea, Usnavi reminds himself, but the effect in the dark still isn’t pleasant. He’s wearing an old, baggy t-shirt over his costume that he usually uses as pyjamas- one Pete painted and didn’t like enough to sell- and the size of it makes him look even smaller than he is. Something smashes on the edges of their hearing and Sonny flinches. Usnavi finds his words sticking again.

“C’mon, let’s go inside.”

“But-”

“Just for a second. There’s no one on the street yet, I promise.” A pause.

“Okay.”

Sonny lets him pass and follows him mutely into the back of the shop after he’s locked the door behind them, folds his arms tightly around himself. Usnavi turns to face him in the light still coming through the windows.

“What do you want to do?” he asks, and Sonny just frowns. “It’s not dark yet, I don’t think much is going on. We can just go home, if you want?” Shifting on his heels, Sonny bites his lip.

“I don’t know,” he mumbles.

“I know, it seems a shame,” Usnavi starts carefully. “You spent so much time on-”

“ _Don’t.”_ Sonny grits out abruptly, suddenly tense and glaring at the floor. “Don’t- it’s- it’s stupid, I shouldn’t-” He looks frantic, almost like he’s about to cry, and Usnavi can’t stand it, not over this.

“It’s not stupid.” He says firmly.

“It _is,_ it’s dumb to have done all this shit and it’s just going to-”

“Hey!” Usnavi takes his shoulder, pulls his hand away when Sonny jumps at the touch. He takes a breath. “Look at me.” Sonny does, raising his eyes and swallowing. “You wanted to do something nice for everyone, it would’ve been a great time. There’s nothing wrong with that, okay?”

Sonny makes a whining sound in the back of his throat, reaches up to fiddle with his cap- still on, despite the costume- and looks away from him again.

“No, it’s- it’s just childish, getting so worked up and all the decorations and-”

“-And Benny spent like six weeks on his costume.” Usnavi cuts him off. “We all like to have a good time, everyone would’ve loved the party. So I say,” he tilts his head to catch Sonny’s eye and smiles. “Let’s grab all the shit we can carry, take it round to the Rosarios’ and have the party there.” Sonny’s eyes widen and he swallows.

“You think they’d be okay?”

“Yeah- but I’ll check.”

Usnavi pulls out his phone, sees messages from Benny, Nina and Vanessa he hadn’t noticed and pulls them up quickly.

MrNina: everybody at rosarios ? sonny sitch ? prolly gonna stay the night they got food all piling in pls update

BarriosBest: How’s Sonny doing? Looks like everybody’s staying over at ours- you and Sonny are of course welcome but we understand if you’d rather head home. Send him our love <3

<3Vanessa<3: sonny need any help kicking anxiety ass ?? tell him we got food and shit and we love him

Usnavi replies quickly, telling them that he and Sonny are heading round, and smiles up reassuringly at his cousin.

“We’re all good. It looks like everyone’s holding up at the Rosario’s and we’re totally welcome.”

“Okay.” Sonny says, breathing like he’s trying to calm himself. “Okay, let’s go there.”

“You got it.”

They pile as much of the candy as they can into bags and pockets, lock the grate (mercifully working) and walk quickly to the apartment as the darkness starts to steal in. Usnavi can hear the beginnings of shouting a little way away, people starting to get rowdy, but they don’t bump into anyone on their way.

“Did you call Pete?” Usnavi asks when they’re about half way. Sonny nods a little stiffly.

“Yeah. He says he’s gonna come as soon as he can- I texted to say where we’re all going.” There’s a tense, high note in his voice- Pete’s kind of far, and he’ll be walking, and what with the blackout… Usnavi just nods, and they continue, almost shoulder to shoulder with how close Sonny’s moved to him now. Usnavi sets his jaw and sends up a prayer he never thought he’d utter- that Graffiti Pete gets to them unharmed, and quickly, and sticks near Sonny for the rest of the night.

Camilla opens the door to them with a weary smile when they reach it, ushers them in and locks the door. Through in the living room, they can see Vanessa and Carla, dressed as Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, laughing at Benny’s zombie impressions from the couch. Usnavi guides Sonny to go join them with a squeeze to his hand and a whispered “I’ll be through in a minute.” He goes, smiling a little tensely as Vanessa budges up on the couch to make room for him.

Usnavi thanks Camilla profusely for letting them all stay.

“Oh, hush, mijo,” she says, smiling warmly “I’m just glad to have you all here safe.” Her face falls slightly as she looks towards the other room. “How is he?” she asks.

“Alright. Better than last time,” Usnavi tells her. “I’m just glad it wasn’t totally dark when it hit.” She nods.

“If he needs anything…?” Usnavi grasps her hand in both of his.

“Thank you. And if _you_ need any help with-” Camilla shushes him again and shoos him through to the living-room where Vanessa pulls him into her lap, making a teasing comment about his cheesy vampire cape, and Nina squeezes his hand and hands him a chocolate bar.

About an hour passes, filled with good-natured laughter and poking fun at each other, sharing sweets, and Usnavi watching Sonny out of the corner of his eye for signs of distress. He’s clearly worried about Pete- they haven’t had any word from him- but Usnavi quells his own growing worry that they can’t do anything about it, even if something has happened. The important thing is that Sonny’s here, and safe.

There are a couple of rotations of burnt-out candles before anything much changes. Daniela, last-minute crappy witch’s hat casting a threatening shadow on her face, is telling a story too ridiculous to be scary when the doorbell rings. Sonny tenses and looks up, and they listen as Camilla’s footsteps move to the door and the click of it opening.

“Trick or treat?” It’s Pete’s voice, slightly muffled, and Sonny visibly relaxes, looks towards the door. After a second, a figure appears in the doorway, draped in a once-white, now paint stained sheet with wonky eyeholes that don’t properly line up with his face.

“Aw, c’mon, man!” Benny groans, throwing his arms wide, “A fucking sheet ghost? Really? It’s not even white!” Pete pulls the sheet off his head so they can see his tired, disgruntled face.

“Yo, fuck off." he grumbles, “I got here, didn’t I?” He catches the sweets that Vanessa throws him and quickly moves to sit on the floor next to Sonny.

“You good?” he murmurs, once Daniela has defiantly restarted her story. Sonny glances from him to Usnavi, who feels a weight lift off his shoulders as a real, if small, smile splits his face.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.”

**Author's Note:**

> i know none of the like blackout stuff makes sense im so sorry guys
> 
> in better news !! im gonna finish unnoticed this month im gonna fuckign do it i swear  
> pls comment  
> ill love u 9ever  
> for real  
> like comment >>> kudos  
> thank for your reading


End file.
